Non-central forces in the nuclear two-body problem

Abstract

The nuclear two-body problem is discussed on the assumption that the range of the forces is small compared with the size of the deuteron, but without specific assumptions about the forces. Using the values for the binding energy of the deuteron and its electric quadripole moment from observation, and eliminating a possible ambiguity in the deuteron wave function by means of the observed magnetic moments, it is found that the formulae for the electric and magnetic photo-effect in the deuteron remain the same as for central forces, with only minor modifications. The same is found for the scattering of neutrons by protons at energies of a few MV or less.